CLARIFICATION: Updated to add that some states have enacted regulations restricting the purchase of farmland by corporations; these laws vary in stringency and effectiveness. (March 20, 2023 3:45 p.m. MST)

The growing value of agricultural commodities is attracting deep-pocketed financial investors - like Bill Gates - and pushing land ownership out of reach for many, particularly beginning farmers and farmers of color.

Savi Horne, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Black lawyers' Land Loss Prevention Project, said since the start of the pandemic there has been more pressure for financial institutions and investors to acquire land, further driving up costs and complicating the struggle for racial equity in agriculture.

Horne contends the hefty price tag for good farmland is one of the biggest challenges. Average U.S. farmland prices increased 7% from June 2020 to June 2021, and 12% from June 2021 to June 2022, according to data from the USDA.

Horne's experience backs those figures up. "Most recently I heard from farmers who were looking two years back, in which they were saying that it was under $1,000 per acre, but now in that community, it's like about $3,000 to $5,000."

Costs are much higher in states like California, but "The financial industry is in the market for farmland" in a big way in the South, according to a deep dive into who's buying up agricultural land from the National Family Farm Coalition with a focus on the Mississippi Delta.

While some states have enacted regulations restricting the purchase of farmland by corporations, these laws vary in stringency and effectiveness. There are currently no federal laws specifically addressing the purchase of farmland by financial institutions, said Horne.

She makes the case that it is in the public's best interest to create a vibrant and diverse small farm sector, and suggests that the federal government could help by proactively purchasing farmland to level the playing field among farmers.

"Making land available, acquiring land and making it available - low cost to no cost to next-generation farmers if they're really serious about growing next-generation capacity to grow food and to participate in rural communities," Horne said.

She adds, Black farmers in particular face multiple land-loss threats, including the legacy of federal government discrimination in farm lending, and the lack of legal protections for the collective landownership form known as "heirs' property."

When a farm has been owned and/or shared by an extended family for multiple generations, the various heirs may lack clear title if formal probate was not processed completely with each successive owner's death. Those legal proceedings over generations of ownership can be expensive, complicated and time-consuming. If all the heirs can't prove legal ownership, there is a danger of losing the property.

Historically, this legal quandary occurs more frequently for Indigenous, Black and people of color communities whose families faced greater institutional challenges.


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On Tuesday, 20 Colorado officials sent a letter to the state's congressional delegation protesting six cuts to public lands management in the new tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump.

John Clark, mayor of Ridgway, said the elimination of river and climate data programs, which are essential to managing the Colorado River Basin and forecasting drought, will put additional burdens on food producers.

"If our farmers and ranchers don't have accurate data about exactly what the situation is with the snow pack and what's happening with the climate, how can they be prepared for each growing season?" Clark asked.

Five active wildfires have burned more than 22,000 acres on Colorado's Western Slope. The letter urged state representatives to reject any additional cuts to the U.S. Forest Service's Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program or other mitigation efforts. Republicans have argued cutting the size of government is necessary to eliminate waste, fraud and expenditures they claim are unsustainable.

Officials are also calling out a provision in the new law they believe undermines local decision-making by forcing oil and gas leasing on public lands. In addition, the law creates new barriers for clean energy leases on public lands, a move Clark worries will lead to the loss of good-paying jobs.

"If we discourage clean energy on public lands, that's going to severely impact our alternative energy workforce," Clark pointed out. "If we can't do wind and solar on public lands, it disincentivizes clean energy all across the state."

Officials are also asking members of Congress to fully fund the National Park Service to ensure proper staffing and maintenance. Clark argued standing up for lands owned by all Americans is essential to preserving Colorado's iconic natural landscapes and rural economies.

"Our economy is hugely dependent on people coming in to visit us and eat at our restaurants and experience these beautiful outdoor environments," Clark emphasized.


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A Wisconsin nonprofit is working with farmers in Southeast Wisconsin to educate communities about the importance of agroforestry, with plans to establish its first urban site in Milwaukee.

The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute has planted more than 400 trees across three sites this year, in partnership with the Savannah Institute. The sites include a community garden and two farms.

Iris Lee, owner of Lee Hemp Farms in Burlington, said agroforestry collaboration is breathing life back into her nearly 50-year-old organic family farm.

"You plant and design things that go together," Lee explained. "That will help not only humans but the animals and nature and bugs."

Agroforestry integrates trees, shrubs and perennial plants into crop and livestock systems. Lee noted one of the project's goals is to raise awareness of the practices and their larger connection to food systems, climate change and communities. The sites will also be used for educational demonstrations.

Community members and project participants helped Lee plant a trail of more than 100 trees in April, from hazelnut and elderberry, to Juneberry and pawpaw trees. They have already grown two to three feet, and she anticipates the berry trees will yield results first. Lee added she even loves talking to her trees and emphasized the physical and mental health benefits of agroforestry.

"Growing something is therapeutic," Lee observed. "To be one with nature -- meaning you know where things come from that you put in your body -- anybody that is concerned about the food and their health, to grow something is to build upon a better human being."

Nolan Burkard, research technician for the nonprofit Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, said diversifying food systems in this way is a growing area of interest for small farmers. Through agroforestry, they can also improve soil health and local climate resilience.

Burkard emphasized it requires long-term investment to get there.

"It takes quite a while for trees to grow up and start fruiting or provide their benefit," Burkard acknowledged. "That's why this project is so important because it is such an investment to plant trees."

Burkard added the institute is accepting applications until July 26 for an urban site in Milwaukee. The selected site will receive $15,000 and planning support to aid in designing it.

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Despite the elimination of a handful of alternative energy tax incentives in the new federal budget, Iowa corn farmers will benefit from one that was extended.

Tax breaks and rebates encouraging investment in solar and wind power in Iowa were eliminated in the federal spending plan. However, the Trump administration extended an incentive enabling farmers in Iowa to produce more corn. The Hawkeye State is the nation's top corn producer, much of which is used to produce ethanol.

Chris Bliley, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for the biofuel trade organization Growth Energy, said grain-based fuels burn cleaner and are more environmentally friendly.

"The credit actually goes for production of lower carbon fuels that are used for transportation," Bliley explained. "It includes on-road fuels as well as sustainable aviation fuel. And so, the lower in carbon, the higher the credit."

The Trump administration has made efforts to extract more fossil fuels, which it said will move the U.S. toward energy independence.

Lawmakers in Iowa and neighboring Midwest states have introduced their own tax incentives for biodegradable jet fuel, which Bliley noted will create economic benefits for ag producers.

"To remain competitive, plants in Iowa and Nebraska and throughout the Midwest are investing in some of these key projects to lower their carbon intensity," Bliley observed.

The commercial airline industry is aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to the International Air Transport Association, which could continue to benefit Iowa farmers who provide corn for ethanol production.


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